Lorde listens to new record through Apple earphones

Lorde has been listening to her new album through Apple earphones so she knows what it will sound like for her fans.

The 'Royal' hitmaker has shared a picture of the white earpiece on her Twitter and hinted that her follow-up to 2013's debut 'Pure Heroine' is nearly finished.

She captioned the photo: "listen to the record on these every day. wanna hear it exactly how you will (sic)"

Lorde previously teased new music in a heartfelt letter to fans to mark her 20th birthday.

The British singer - who turned 20 on November 7 - has produced "the best lyrics" she's ever written and is desperate to release her second record.

The lengthy post titled 'A Note From The Desk Of A Newborn Adult' shared on her Facebook page begins: "Tomorrow I turn 20, and it's all I've been able to think about for days."

It goes on to reveal: "Writing 'Pure Heroine' was my way of enshrining our teenage glory, putting it up in lights forever so that part of me never dies, and this record - well, this one is about what comes next.

I want nothing more than to spill my guts RIGHT NOW about the whole thing - I want you to see the album cover, pore over the lyrics (the best I've written in my life), touch the merch, experience the live show. I can hardly stop myself from typing out the name. I just need to keep working a while longer to make it as good as it can be. You'll have to hold on. The big day is not tomorrow, or even next month realistically, but soon. I know you understand."

Her letter came after a fan took to Instagram earlier this year and moaned about how long it is taking for her to release new music.

The furious star replied: "Give up on me if you want to! I'm an artist, I write a record when I have enough special stories to tell, and it's all me, every melody every lyric, not some team who just start the machine up every eighteen months like clockwork."